Project Launch: 7-3-13

Kithyululu Secondary School is a public mixed day/boarding school in Kithyululu, Kenya with a population of around 180 students. The adjoining primary school has a student population of around 400 students. The schools and the town are in a semi-arid region known for drought and unreliable rains. Since subsistence farming is the major occupation of families in the area, the lack of water makes poverty a daily struggle.

The current solution to water access is a water pipe that travels a distance of 26 kilometers, feeding numerous small towns before arriving in Kithyululu; however, the pipe often runs dry by the time it reaches Kithyululu. During the dry season, more than a month can pass without any water from this tap. The main alternative to piped water is to fetch it from the polluted Athi River, which is not only arduous and time-consuming, but is known to be the source of dysentery and other illnesses. Still other community members instead turn to having water delivered to their homes at a very high cost, which reduces their ability to afford other essential costs such as school fees for children.

Reducing the burden of water access will reduce economic and health risks for families in Kithyululu. The community identified its schools as the appropriate water access point because of the impact clean, potable water can have on the children of the community; thus, the Drilling Water in in the Kithylulu Community project will lead to the installation of a borehole at the Kithyululu Secondary School. The borehole will tap into a clean water source and make the school a primary point of water access for the Kithyululu community. The potential benefits for the school are immense. Primary and secondary school students will get free access to the water, reducing the school's operating costs and thus its school fees, and allowing the school to focus on other educational needs or provide scholarships to families who cannot afford school fees. More and better water will also allow students of agriculture to do better on the practical portion of the national examination, allowing students to work on food security project such as bag gardening and raising hens, both which can provide economic benefit to the school. Increased water availability will also allow the secondary school to recruit more boarders, whose boarding requires water for bathing, laundry, and general cleaning. Finally, water will be sold to community members at a fair price, when available, generating income for the school.

 

Project Update

Drilling is completed and the borehole is now fully functional. According to the driller’s estimate, the borehole can reach up to 14 cubic meters (14,000L) of water per hour, which exceeds the needs of the schools and will easily be able to serve the community. Community members have been engaged throughout the whole project. Students and teachers from a nearby primary school took a field trip to observe the drilling, and the drillers gave a short presentation to the primary students. They explained their work and answered questions, offering an impromptu learning experience for the children. The water from the borehole will be utilized to plant crops and trees at the school, and the community is installing a water pump to access the water more easily.

 

Testimonials

“I can rest easy now that I know we will soon have access to water at the school. This will allow me to focus on other projects at the school rather than constantly struggling for water. I will no longer be stressed….the District Education Officer was telling me that we should have some trees and flowers to make the school more beautiful. Now we can plant these things.” – Jacqueline, Principal, Project Leader

“I am suggesting that we can now start some projects in the school like planting sukuma wiki [kale] in the school and sell it to the villagers. The villagers can come and buy water if we sell to them also. This will allow us to make some money for the school.” – Miriam, Project Participant

 

"Women and children do most of the work of carrying water in the community.  By having the borehole close by, their lives will be easier.  Children will have more time to study their schoolwork and the women can participate in other economic activities outside of basic domestic care." – Julia, Peace Corps Volunteer